Q&A with Ntombi Nkiwane, co-organizer of Halifax’s Ferguson rally

El Jones, left, and Ntombi Nikwane, pictured in Halifax on Aug. 15, organized a march in protest of the recent shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. (CHRISTIAN LAFORCE / Staff)

In Ferguson, Mo., daily international news reports have revolved around this month’s shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a local police officer.

In Halifax on Tuesday, hundreds attended a peaceful march and rally in support of black residents in Ferguson. They were well aware of Nova Scotia’s own history of bigotry and strained race relations. Dalhousie University student Ntombi Nkiwane, who has lived in the city for a year, was one of the organizers of the Halifax demonstration.

The 19-year-old political science student is from Johannesburg. Nkiwane spoke to The Chronicle Herald’s Michael Lightstone on Thursday.

How would you describe race relations in the Halifax region, at least in your experience since you’ve been here?

Of course, I can’t speak for all black people — it’s a very personal experience — but, obviously, because of the history of Nova Scotia regarding race relations, and the treatment of black people historically, it’s a very tense situation. Just in my personal experience, I’ve faced racism quite often. But I’m also very, very conscious of (racism), and I pick it up quite quickly. For me, personally, I’ve faced quite a bit of racial discrimination. I think if you ask a lot of other black people here, they would probably say similar things.

Can you give me an example, please, of some discrimination you’ve faced while living in this city?

Being followed by s ecurity at stores, . . . or I’ve gone to supper with professionals — professors and poets — and we start speaking about race relations, and then different people at the table next to us get up and leave, and say: ‘We don’t like what they’re talking about.’ So it’s things like that that happen. And even other things, such as being the only…person of colour in a classroom — I’m really not used to that. A lot of people don’t question it, especially if you’re not in that situation. But people need to start to question as to why there’s only one black (student) in the class.

Why did you decide to help organize the recent march and rally here?

I think that it was important to be in solidarity with the people of Ferguson. As a conscious black woman, I’m definitely in solidarity whenever there’s injustice perpetrated against my fellow people.

And so, I thought of that. And then I also thought about the fact that people face racial discrimination in Halifax. So it would be a nice way to talk about the issues that the black community here faces. A lot of the time, I’ve noticed the black community isn’t really given a voice. This was a chance to get community members together, and to get them speaking. . . . And it was a really, really great afternoon.

In your opinion, were the local police assigned to this event — the march and the rally — helpful?

Yeah, I found that they were.

Obviously, we were tackling difficult issues but very relevant issues, such as police brutality and racial profiling, but for the most part, the (Halifax) police were helpful at the rally. They didn’t disturb us or anything, so I don’t have any complaints regarding the police presence.

Do you think the police had any undercover officers mixed in with the protesters, and perhaps were taking photographs of you folks without your knowledge?

I don’t know if that did happen. In the past, during a lot of protests, there are a lot of agent provocateurs there or undercover (officers) there. But even if that did happen, I don’t think it would have been a problem because it was a very peaceful protest. But at the same time, one has to acknowledge that could have happened — but I can’t say (with certainty) that it did. It is a possibility.